Ian Vermaak (born 28 March 1933) is a former tennis player competing for

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. As the No. 4 seed he finished runner-up to

Nicola Pietrangeli Nicola "Nicky" Pietrangeli (; born 11 September 1933) is a former Italian tennis player. He won two singles titles at the French Championships and is considered by many to be Italy's greatest tennis champion. Biography Born 11 September 1933, in ...

in the singles final of the Amateur

French Championships The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...

Roland-Garros The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

, after having reached earlier in the season the

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

International German Tennis Championships final, losing to William Knight. His best result at the

Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London, since 1877 and is pla ...

was in

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Jan ...

when he reached the fourth round in the singles event which he lost in five sets to

Ramanathan Krishnan Ramanathan Krishnan (born 11 April 1937) is a retired tennis player from India who was among the world's leading players in the 1950s and 1960s. He was twice a semifinalist at Wimbledon in 1960 and 1961, reaching as high as World No. 3 in Potte ...

. Vermaak competed for the South African Davis Cup team in six ties between 1953 and 1960 and compiled a record of five wins and seven losses. In 1956 he won the singles title of the South African Championships, defeating Torsten Johansson in the final in fives sets. In 1959 he defeated his countryman Ray Weedon in the final of the 71st Southampton Grass Court Championships on Long Island, New York. Vermaak was ranked World No. 10 by Lance Tingay of ''The Daily Telegraph'' in 1959.

Grand Slam finals

Singles: (1 runner-up)

References

External links

* * * South African male tennis players People from Empangeni 1933 births Living people White South African people {{SouthAfrica-tennis-bio-stub